Lake Travis fatality - Texas

[Bob DBF]

The sheriff’s office says it’s investigating what led to Medina-Page’s death, but a preliminary review shows that the line he had been tethered to had been significantly tangled.

This is puzzling to me as few times I have been tethered there has been a tender on the other end. On a job without current, I would see no reason to tether myself to the work. I hope this is clarified in time.

Of course the question is did the tangle cause the death, or did the death cause the tangle.


Bob

 

[Carl_F]

I honestly hope more light gets shed on this story. I think it would do the diving community some good to see what can go wrong during dives and how these issues can be prevented.

I've seen similar sentiments in the past on this forum. For me the details could influence different or additional thoughts on accident prevention. But for the most part, the specific details that we will probably never know don't have to be present to have a good discussion on specifics of accident prevention.

If one presumes that he was tethered with no cutting tool ... that can lead to one conversation.
If one presumes that he was tethered with cutting tools ... that can lead to another conversation.
And if one presumes that he wasn't present but the line was at the work site when he arrived ... that can lead to yet another conversation.

None of these scenarios may be what actually occurred but does not preclude a good discussion on accident prevention. The more details allow a potentially more specific discussion but aren't a requirement to have the discussion.

 

[yle]

To comment about a knife is to make a lot of assumptions about what happened, it presumes you know the cause of the accident and how to avoid it based on your personal experience.

Actually, to comment about his knife simply assumes that the people reading this thread, while contemplating how quickly life can turn on any of us, might be interested in a simple solution that could assist any of us in a difficult situation while diving. Which, I believe, is the purpose of the A&I forum.

 

[markmud]

I honestly hope more light gets shed on this story. I think it would do the diving community some good to see what can go wrong during dives and how these issues can be prevented. I can't stress enough how important it is to remain calm and not panic. The guy I pulled from the bottom of the lake was necessarily in any imminent danger, but had I not been bubble watching he could've been down there a while and as much of a panic state as he was in I don't have the full confidence that he would've taken it upon himself to figure out how to get to the surface. And he was breathing down that AL80 pretty damn quick! So if you take nothing else away from this thread and these posts, remember to keep calm. As long as you have a reg in your mouth and air in your tank, chances are pretty good you can solve any other issue under water and keep an incident from becoming an accident.

Hi Shortbus.

I agree with what you wrote. I would like to ad that "slow is fast". In the sticky situations that I have been in I have always done the best when I stop, I breathe, and then I act on a logical plan. And I don't mean scuba diving. I mean all sticky situations.

Stop, breathe, act, formulate plan b while working on plan a.

I have been tangled in kelp and fishing line while scuba diving. I was tangled in oil boom while trying to free it from the propeller of the boom boat while free swimming (under the boat--obviously I did not breathe in that instance, but you know...) . Stop, breathe, act.

I was at Monterey and got tangled in kelp. I could not see the kelp that entangled me. I was snagged in multiple places. I had dealt with kelp before, but never like that. I stopped, I breathed, and then rolled over and started snapping all kelp that seems to be strained. I got free except for my fin strap was still tangled. Stop, breathe, act.

If you are hopelessly tangled can you free yourself better by ditching your BC? My BC/tank/reg seems to get tangled most followed by my fins.

Stop, breathe, act. It has worked for me in more than scuba diving. I was up on roof and cut myself with a skilsaw. I stopped, I breathed, and then I acted.

Slow is fast.

My condolences, it could happen to any of us.
markm

 

[infieldg]

Actually, to comment about his knife simply assumes that the people reading this thread, while contemplating how quickly life can turn on any of us, might be interested in a simple solution that could assist any of us in a difficult situation while diving. Which, I believe, is the purpose of the A&I forum.

Absolutely! Not only did it never occur to me to secure my knife better, but if it had I would never have come up with that ingenious springy pully stretchy thing - definitely buying some of those wotsits!

 

[Dan]

Absolutely! Not only did it never occur to me to secure my knife better, but if it had I would never have come up with that ingenious springy pully stretchy thing - definitely buying some of those wotsits!

I thought that springy line would be pretty streamline setup, minimizing a possibility of entanglement when you dive into a tight space. It can stretch up to 3' (1m) long and it can be clipped off from the holster if I need to use the knife further away than 3' from the holster.

Since I'm a lefty, I mount the knife holster below the BCD's right integrated-weight pocket. One of my check-out dive to do list is to reach to the knife and pull it out of the holster and put it back into the holster without looking for it (simply by feel) with either left or right hand. Practice makes perfect.

 

[Steelyeyes]

Absolutely! Not only did it never occur to me to secure my knife better, but if it had I would never have come up with that ingenious springy pully stretchy thing - definitely buying some of those wotsits!

I ordered some for my wife and I because of that post.

 

[Clayton122]

First of all deepest condolences to the deceased family & friends. I’m sorry for not mentioning earlier. I have lost a brother in an accident so, I do know the sadness feeling of a loss of close family.

At what point did I jump to conclusions & being snarky? When I read about such sad situation “...a preliminary review shows that the line he had been tethered to had been significantly tangled.”, it reminded me of my own situation, losing cutting knife and would like to share my lesson. I thought this accidents & incidents thread is about what you would learn from them, not the passing & condolence thread.

I apologize if my remembering on my incident & wanting to share my solution to the situation is being misunderstood as “jump to conclusions & being snarky”.

There was nothing snarky about your post. It was just the typical Scuba board BS.